Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, has reaffirmed his position as the world’s richest man, according to a wealth league table which showed how 2013 proved to be a bonanza year for the planet’s billionaires.

Despite seeing its long-term rival Apple, maker the iPhone and iPad, increase its apparent dominance of everyday life, shares in Microsoft finished the year up 40 per cent, buoyed by strong sales for business software.

Combined with strong performances for other investments, it helped Mr Gates finish the year well clear of his nearest rival, the Mexican investor Carlos Slim, for the title of world's richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Mr Gates overtook Mr Slim in the index - a daily ranking of the world’s 300 richest people - in May and finished the year well ahead with an estimated wealth of £49 billion ($78.5 billion) – just under £4 billion ahead of Mr Slim.

The end of year report from the index showed how, at a time when austerity and living standards dominated the political agenda in Britain and around the world, it was a vintage year for the richest of rich.